Introduction: Developers Take Center Stage at WWDC 2025
WWDC 2025 delivered one of Apple’s most developer-focused events in years. From a sweeping “Liquid Glass” design refresh to powerful under-the-hood updates, there was no shortage of news for those of us building apps for the Apple ecosystem. Below, I break down each major theme—everything you need to know.
1. A Bold New Look: “Liquid Glass” Everywhere
- What Changed: Across iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS, Apple introduced a translucent, fluid aesthetic that some are already likening to Windows 7’s Aero.
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Pros & Cons:
- Pros: A fresh, modern vibe; consistent visual language across all platforms.
- Cons: Blurred text in Messages can hit accessibility and contrast in edge cases, and animations feel sluggish unless you enable “reduced motion” (which brings its own quirks).
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My Take: As a Vision Pro enthusiast, I appreciate the direction—but I’ll be watching beta feedback closely to see if major tweaks are needed before my team adopts iOS 26 on work devices.
2. UI Deep Dive: Key App Updates
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Keyboard Redesign
Rounded corners and repositioned suggestions didn’t win me over—beta feedback could bring this back in line. -
Photos App Rollback
The streamlined navigation from iOS 18 is gone, making library browsing more cumbersome. -
Safari & PWAs
- URL Bar: Now blends into the page, eating vertical real estate and occasionally hiding input fields.
- Home-Screen Icons: Progressive web apps look less polished alongside native “Liquid Glass” icons.
- Icon Composer: A new Xcode tool for depth-enabled icons—extra work but a welcome addition.
3. The Cross-Platform Framework Showdown
- React Native: Benefits directly from Apple’s native UI updates—controls, notifications, animations all inherit platform improvements.
- Flutter: Relies on screenshotting and manual recreation, which can lead to mismatches (remember that misaligned search icon in the Flutter blog post?).
Win of the Day: Left-aligned notifications read faster and feel modern—platform defaults for the win.
4. Containerization & Open Source Gains
- Docker-in-Swift: Apple’s new Swift package runs OCI containers natively on Apple Silicon, supports ext4, and even handles x86 images under Rosetta 2—huge deal for local development.
- FoundationDB Moves: Core repos now live under official Apple accounts, and whispers of Swift-based rewrites show Apple doubling down on Swift everywhere.
5. Game Porting & Web Advancements
- Game Porting Toolkit 3: Adds multiframe capture and DLSS-style upscaling—streamlines ports, even if many devs still rely on community hacks.
- WebGPU by Default: Safari users now get full WebGPU support out of the box. Combined with Chrome removing its 4 GB WASM cap, true mobile WebGPU gaming is finally within reach.
6. Xcode & Apple’s AI Strategy
- Xcode AI Tools: Rumored Anthropic integration shows promise, but the “bring your own model” feature is glitchy in beta.
- On-Device Foundation Models: Privacy-first but underpowered; no central registry means shipping large models or settling for Apple’s mediocre defaults.
- Siri & “Apple Intelligence”: Slow updates and vague branding reflect a lack of coherent AI vision—missed opportunity for edge compute on iPhones.
7. The Intel-to-Silicon Transition
Late-breaking news: Rosetta 2 will be retired by 2028. With macOS 26 (Tahoe) as the final Intel-compatible release, the era of Intel Macs comes to an end. Legacy gaming support persists, but developers should plan exclusively for Apple Silicon going forward.
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Conclusion: Promise vs. Pain
WWDC 2025 delivered plenty of “cool stuff,” but it feels like Apple is playing catch-up in key areas—especially AI and cross-platform support. Xcode remains clunky, and the road ahead for Siri and on-device models is unclear. Is this merely growing pains, or a sign of deeper systemic friction?